1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to enhancing the shelf life of bakery products and particularly to the production of breads which are stable under conditions of lengthy storage More specifically, the present invention is directed to dough formulations which prevent the hardening of the bread crumb while simultaneously reducing browning of stored bakery products produced from such dough formulations. Accordingly, the general objects of the present invention are to provide novel and improved methods and formulations of such character.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Bread, while consumed worldwide and considered an essential food item in most societies, is not a stable product. Thus, bread rapidly loses those desirable texture and flavor qualities associated with freshness. Conventional lean breads, such as French or Italian loaves, stale significantly within twenty-four hours. Enriched breads, such as the familiar mass-produced, slice wrapped white breads, have shelf lives of about five days. It has been estimated that international bread industry dollar losses due to staling are in the range of one billion dollars per year. Additionally, the short shelf life of commercial breads has resulted in the need for the baking industry to create and maintain production and distribution systems that operate within the limited window of saleability proscribed by the staling phenomena.
In order to reduce the losses resulting from staling, cereal chemists have done considerable research pursuant to efforts to extend the shelf life of breads This research is reported in numerous technical papers and includes use of preservatives, the reduction of package oxygen, the reduction of water activity and acidification. These previously proposed approaches to enhancement of bread shelf life have included such diverse techniques as controlled atmospheric packaging and the incorporation in the bread dough of additives which inhibit enzymatic and non-enzymatic browning The previously reported techniques have exhibited only limited success.
Experience has shown that both the health and morale of soldiers subsisting under field conditions is enhanced by the availability of satisfactory bread, i.e., bread which is neither stale nor discolored. The staling phenomena has greatly impeded the ability of the military services to provide breads to troops in the field where the establishment of field bakeries or their operation is not feasible Despite growing technical and scientific understanding of the staling phenomena, satisfactory shelf stable breads have heretofore eluded technical development for general consumption and for military use in particular. Military use demands the availability of truly shelf stable breads that retain satisfactory sensory and quality attributes for at least six months at 100.degree. F. and two years at 70.degree. F.